Photography For Moms: Don't Give Up • RI Family Photographer
I recently hosted a Basic Digital Photography class in my studio. I've done these classes several times before, and they are super popular! Most who attend are parents or grandparents who have a DSLR and want to learn how to use it to take better photos of their families.
There are often tons of "a-ha" moments when I hold this class. It's always great to see when something clicks for someone, and one of my favorite things is to get progress reports from students after the class, when they have more time to practice their skills.
But there is also frustration. It's human nature to want to be good at something right away. It's maddening when we can't achieve what we want, whether because we haven't practiced something enough, or we don't understand how to achieve what we want our end result to be. It's at those points that I hear people say, "I should just give up. I'm not good at this. My photos are not good."
I'm here to tell you: DON'T GIVE UP.
It gets better. It gets easier. You are improving, I promise.
My older nephew was one of my first human subjects. I have lots and lots of photos of him, especially from when he was even younger than he is here.
A lot of the photos are not very good. The composition is off. The colors are off. The exposure is off. My skills may not have been great then, but at least he's cute!
As he grew, so did my skills.
No necessarily overnight. There's so much to learn with photography. But he's been there to let Auntie Amy try out new stuff, even if it means I have to pay him off now.
(And even if it means he'll clearly show me how he feels about it!)
It's great to look back over your photos from the past year or even the past few months and see how your skills are growing. Don't think they are? Take a look at the photos that you took a year ago, or six months ago. Then look at your most recent ones. See the difference?
I told you! Don't give up!
That once-little guy is 11 now. He still sometimes humors me and lets me take a photo or two. Now, it's easy for me to take photos of him. I know what settings to use, what lighting is best, and what locations will look best (even if it's just the end of my parents' driveway!) These are all things that are super important for me to know as a RI family photographer. Even though some of the earlier photos I took of him are cringe-worthy, I still love to have them. I love to look back and see how little he used to be and how he's grown and changed. Hold onto those photos. See the growth, on so many levels.
I didn't get to where I am overnight. There has been a lot of practice, as you can see! But I never gave up, and neither should you. <3